Welcome back to the sixth edition of the “Jets Nation year in review” series to wrap up the Winnipeg Jets 2025-26 season. This series continues on as the off-season is fully underway around the NHL now halfway through June. I’ll continue to look at the individual seasons from Jets players throughout the 2025-26 season and also take a quick look ahead to what the 2026-27 season may have in store for each player. The first “major” off-season event is coming up in just about one weeks time, with the Jets set the make the 8th overall selection at the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. Tonight’s players (a double feature for this one) is two of the Jets promising prospects who are slowly on the rise after getting a decent amount of playing time throughout the 2025-26 season: Brad Lambert and Elias Salomonsson.

Both Jets prospects entered the 2025-26 season with hopes of getting significant playing time on this current Jets roster. The Jets have lacked for a few seasons a true “big name” prospect, but the Jets have also failed to allow some of their prospects to get the proper playing time and experience needed in the league, even if it’s just in a depth role. This past season that changed somewhat, with Lambert and Salmonsson getting their opportunities, especially when the Jets were officially eliminated from playoff contention at the end of the season.

Brad Lambert’s 2024-25 AHL season with the Manitoba Moose wasn’t the best, but Jets fans knew that part of his decline in production was due to the Moose being a bottom 5 team in the league. Salomonsson exceeded his expectations during his first pro season with the Moose in 2024-25 season, and although Salomonsson might be “one year behind” Lambert’s NHL timeline (one year younger but same draft), Salomonsson has risen up the top Jets prospects rankings, and he was ready for NHL action this season.

Lambert split time with the Moose and Jets in the 2025-26 season. With the Jets, Lambert scored 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points in 25 games. Even though he was usually playing in a role with limited ice time, Lambert generally looked more comfortable in the league, and he showed flashes of what Jets fans have been hoping to see from Lambert. In 34 games with the Moose this season, Lambert scored 6 goals and 7 assists for 13 points.

Salomonsson also split time with the Moose and Jets at different times of the 2025-26 season. With the Moose, Salomonsson appeared in 29 games, scoring 1 goal and added 8 assists for 9 points. After making his NHL debut with the Jets, Salomonsson secured his spot on the team with an overall good defensive game. In 32 games with the Jets, Salomonsson scored 1 goal and 4 assists for 5 points, while getting a good amount of ice time on the 2nd pairing at times where there were injuries.

Looking ahead to the 2026-27 season, the Jets need to find a place in the opening night roster for both Lambert and Salomonsson. Although both prospects are still quite a ways from reaching their full potentials, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be NHL players at this point. For Lambert, the Jets need to try to get him in more offensive situations in order to unlock his scoring and playmaking abilities. For Salomonsson, he’s shown enough to make a case to start the season as the Jets 2nd defence line right defenceman, potentially creating a young 2nd pairing with Dylan Samberg.

Heading into the 2026-27 season, both Lambert and Salomonsson will be playing their final years of their entry level contracts. Lambert’s cap hit is $886,666 and Salomonsson’s cap hit is $865,000, and they will both be restricted free agents in 2027. It’s still a little early to predict what their next contracts will look like, but assuming both of them continue to develop in the NHL they should both earn their first “official” short term NHL contracts in the next off-season.

Despite both players still considered near the top of the Jets prospects list, there’s still work to do for both players in the upcoming seasons. Other Jets prospects such as Brayden Yager, Nikita Chibrikov and Colby Barlow will also want a crack at the NHL soon enough, which could take some “pressure” off Lambert and Salomonsson in terms of exceeding their current expectations. Not to mention, whoever the Jets select at 8th overall at the 2026 NHL Entry Draft will likely become the Jets new “top prospect”, with a few seasons before they attempt to make the Jets. Regardless, Jets fans should continue to be optimistic about both Lambert and Salomonsson heading into the 2026-27 season, with hopes of both players making larger contributions to the Jets success down the road.

The 2026 NHL Draft will take place at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York on June 26th and June 27th. The Winnipeg Jets will be selecting 8th overall in the 1st round. Stay tuned for the next edition of the Jets Nation “year in review” series article coming in a few days!

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